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Program Highlights

The 21 Eric M. Warburg Chapters host more than 140 events each year. Below are highlights from recent discussions. Topics range from climate change to the rise in populism to transatlantic trade to the refugee crisis in Europe.

“60 Years after the Treaty of Rome: What Kind of Future for Europe?”On March 23, 2017, Boston University played host to a high-level panel discussion on the future of Europe organized by the German Consulate General in Boston, the Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University, and the American Council on Germany. Just days before the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the panel featured former German Ambassador to the United States Dr. Klaus Scharioth; German television journalist Christian Feld; and Dr. Kaija Schilde, Professor of International Relations at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies; and was moderated by ACG President Dr. Steven E. Sokol.

Summit on Arizona’s Energy ResilienceOn January 10, 2017, the Phoenix Eric M. Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany and the East Valley Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby brought together around 200 people for a Summit on Arizona’s Energy Resilience. A keynote address was given by Max Grünig, President of Ecologic Institute US, on “Accessibility, Affordability, Adaptability: Key Aspects of the German Energy Transition.” Mr. Grünig discussed the successes and difficulties of the German Energiewende, or energy transition. He covered topics including Germany’s economic growth while working to reduce consumption, the cost of energy production in the United States vs. in Germany, and Germany’s low rate of power outages. He noted that Germany has successfully reached more than 30 percent renewable energy even though its potential for solar energy is roughly equal to that of Alaska. He added that Arizona has about twice the potential for solar energy as Germany.

Mr. Grünig’s talk was followed by a panel discussion with Bob Burns, Commissioner of the Arizona Corporation Commission; Ann Marie Chischilly, Executive Director of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (NAU-ITEP); Eduardo González, Deputy Trade Commissioner of ProMéxico in Phoenix; Kristin Mayes, Senior Sustainability Scholar at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and Professor of Practice at the School for the Future of Innovation at Arizona State University and former Corporation Commission Chairman; and Arizona State Senator Bob Worsley. The panel was moderated by Wesley Herche, Research Scientist at Arizona State University with the Global Security Initiative. Their perspectives together provided insights from Mexico, Tribal communities, academics, and government. The discussion focused on Arizona, with over an hour of questions and answers, and covering far-ranging topics such as market-based pricing of carbon emissions, the range of needs and perspectives within Native American communities, ways to incentivize renewable energy, and how the average citizen can help effect change.